Full meeting transcript - October 24, 2023

» I want to call this meeting to order. If I could, I'd like to ask Councilman Annie Cato to do our invocation and our Pledge of Allegiance. Let us stand. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for this time that we have come together and do the business of this county. We thank you, dear Heavenly Father, for everything that you've allowed us to obtain. And, dear Heavenly Father, for the blessings that you give us each and every day. Heavenly Father, we just pray for the ones that are sick, the ones that are needing your extra care, dear Heavenly Father. We know that you are the healer of all things, dear Heavenly Father. And we just pray for their comfort.

» Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for our men and women in uniform, dear Heavenly Father, for our military and for our law enforcement and first responders here at home. Dear Heavenly Father, just be with us throughout this night and on our way home. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, D. I pledge allegiance to the flag, the state of America. Thank you, dear Heavenly Father. I pledge allegiance to the flag, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we're going to move into adoption of the agenda. Do I have a motion? Make a motion we adopt the agenda, Mr. Boucher. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? I do. Mr.

» DuBose, if you go to 8C, would you give some clarification on that? Because I think I may want to remove that from the agenda. All right. Yes, Mr. Vice Chair. That matter is a litter control enforcement in Kershaw County, an ongoing case of approximately 12 months out at the food line at River Crossing. The enforcement and notice to the property owner, I believe, was initiated around December of last year. Around March or April, the property owner presented some plans that would have brought him into compliance. That never really went anywhere. It was held into the court in July for actual enforcement. There was a delay in getting that order, but it was served recently.

» The defendant, property owner, has contacted my office and informed me that he's making arrangements to hire contractors to remedy the zoning issue. So it's my expectation it should be resolved shortly. We will try to coordinate with the magistrate court to secure some potential court time in advance in the event that noncompliance continues. But, again, the property owner, defendant, has reached out and was quite apologetic and appears to be taking steps to remedy it. Very good, because I know that's been going on for about 12 months, as stated. And I'm glad to see that we're getting to the end of it. And we're talking about the back of the food line over in the West Watery area. The dumpster, I think the dumpster is probably sitting on a – and not in a proper place.

» That's my understanding. Yes, correct. And that's what the court found. Okay. All right. I'm going to amend that we delete that A8C from the agenda. I'll make that motion. I would second it. Any discussion? All in favor of the amendment? Okay. Now, that was – on the amendment, you had the motion made by me, Madam Clerk, and you had the second by Mr. Shoemake. Let me go back. Who made the motion on the – I did, Mr. Vice Chair. Okay, Mr. Tucker, and you were seconded by? Mr. Brazel. Mr. Brazel. Very good. All right. Now, going back to the agenda adopted as amended. All in favor? Let us say that it's unanimous. All right. Let's move down to public comments. Mr. DeVos, how many do we have? Two comments, Mr. Vice Chair. Can I see it? Yes, Mr. Vice Chair. You can have it.

» I'm going to let you call them out. First name signed to speak is Holland Mack. The subject is speeding. I'm Holland Mack, president of HOE in South Haven. And one of the questions I have is we have a lot of construction still going on. Put a mic to you closer, please, sir. Thank you very much. And one of the problems we're having was the construction work is still speeding through there. And I was wondering, is it possible that we could change the speed limit sign from 25 to 15? I know it probably won't be enforced, but hopefully they would consider it and drive to the store because we have a lot of kids and stuff playing in the streets and stuff in the evenings. So I wanted to know if that's possible because I called the Department of Transportation.

» They said I had to come to the council meeting and express that with you guys to see if that was feasible. So, Mr. Danny, have you got that information written there? Yes, sir. We'll follow up on that. Okay, if you would, you got a telephone number where you can reach? It should be on there. It should be on there. Yes. Okay. There's also one other thing I wanted to talk about. We have our porch that's on the line. And I call and I find out that it's probably three feet from the line. And the neighbor who is this adjacent to, he's really upset about it. And I wonder, would HOA have to enforce that or would that be done by the city planning? All right, sir. Mr. Templer, we're getting in touch with you because, and I do apologize. I need to let Mr.

» Tucker read the rules out for our public comments. We skipped over that tonight. It was his fault. We'll get it cleared up. But Mr. Templer's got your information. He'll get in contact with you. Okay, one last thing. We have an island there and these big trucks making delivery and they're tearing up the island completely. I want to know, is it possible that we can reduce the size of that island or perhaps put a sign up for the trucks to go around a different route for the coming there? Because, I mean, I got pictures if you want to see how bad they're tearing up the island. Mr. Templer, you got that? Yes, sir. And you will be contacting him tomorrow? Yeah, I'll get with him in the morning. Very good. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you very much.

» And I do apologize to you, sir, and everybody else. I did not ask Mr. Tucker to read the rules of order of our business. Would you please state those? First off, I think you have a couple of announcements to make, don't you? Yes, sir. So, Councilman Tomlinson is here. Welcome and thank you. At this time, I would like to read the public comments guidelines, and then you want me to do the announcements, because you've got one more public speaker. Yeah, go ahead and do the announcements. The announcements or the comments? We should have done it before we brought the first person up, but that was your fault. Go ahead. Okay, I understand. It's always my fault. I feel like Pomar, but that's okay. Public comments is an opportunity for members of the public to share information with council.

» It is not a time for debate with or questions and answers from council. It is time for council to receive input. It is not a time for council response. In short, during public comment, council will listen to public comment, but not comment on public comment. Offensive, inappropriate comments will not be tolerated. If a group would like to speak to council, we request that a spokesperson be selected, and that person is indicating the group he or she is representing on the sign-up sheet and in his or her comments. Public comments is a time to discuss issues. Public comment period is limited to five minutes maximum allowed per individual speaker.

» Public comments to council as an agenda item shall continue uninterrupted to be live streamed by audio and video or available until the public comments agenda items is finished and concluded. These rules may be altered or amended by county council by a single vote, including but not limited to when the agenda items is reached. That concludes my public comment guidelines, Mr. Chair, and now I have a letter from Madam Chair, if you'll allow me to read it. Go right ahead. The letter is from Madam Chair, Ms. Katie Gwynn. Good evening, Kershaw County citizens in person and on live stream. Thank you for attending tonight's council meeting. Over a month ago, I promised my son that I would take him to an out-of-town event. He has wanted to attend this event since last year.

» Considering the light agenda tonight, this position taken by full-time capacity and that the meeting is in capable hands, I decided I needed to honor my commitment to my young son this evening as I would expect any other person to do. I look forward to seeing council in all of you on November the 14th. Thank you for your continued support and love as our family has experienced many challenges this year. Please do not hesitate to call me. My phone is always on. Chairwoman Katie Gwynn. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Okay, next person to speak. Next person assigned to speak is Mr. Jeff Maddox. In state, Jerry, if you don't mind, Mr. Maddox, what's your reason for speaking? Absence. Go right ahead. There's a whole lot of that going on of late. I see we don't have a name there anymore.

» You can't take care of your personal life. You don't need to be in a leadership position. This is true throughout all your political elected officials. I'm ashamed. Excuses, excuses, and more excuses are no excuse. We got a cell phone tower issue tonight, which some have done a little bit of homework on, some haven't. More important issues in Woodward Park. You know, the three options. Of course, we already knew what it was going to be, but, you know, you could have played the part. But, no, I don't understand it. I don't know where you can't. Can you have a vote of no confidence? Should you have a vote of no confidence? What did we elect? You know, they say the government is a reflection of the people. I do believe it now.

» The republic is dying, and it's dying because we're turning into a cacistocracy. Webster defines that as ruled by the worst of the worst. It doesn't take but a little bit of poison to make a glass of water deadly. And it doesn't take but a few individuals to make a cacistocracy, because many of us remain silent. It's easier to remain silent. You know, go along to get along. Don't get everybody upset. Remember the old thing, don't talk politics. What's important? How do you keep freedom? How do you know the people that you elect? I wish to God I knew the answers, guys. I really do. I fear for my nation. Look at what they're doing now. Oh, they're going to get us in the middle of a damn World War III, and it'll come home here. In the meantime, we've got champagne dreams on beer budgets.

» We're $33 trillion in debt. And look at the people that we have leading us, and look at the absentee. I don't know, guys. You know, for a number of years now, I've been talking about batting down the hatches, because the financial crisis is coming. Well, now it's upon us. You know, inflation running, skyrocketing. Interest rates skyrocketing. The housing market's starting to fall. You see commercial real estate going down the hill. Better late than never. Come up to the next budget, and you know everybody's coming for it. You know everybody's coming for money. Can you hold the line this time? I don't know. What's the maximum amount you can now come to the people who are paying more and more every day of everything? We're in a world of trouble, boys. And absentee.

» I suggest that you do something. Fill the seat. Vote no confidence. I don't know about these people, but I'm tired of it. Boys, that's about all I can say. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Maddox. All right. Moving along. All right. We have a public presentation. And the first public presentation is Kevin Rose, the Kershaw County Opioid Coalition. But on the agenda by Ms. Katie Gwynn, please step up. You have a guest with you tonight. I've never seen her before. She and I have done battle in here many, many times. That's right. Smart man, Mr. Rose. Well, back, just as we promised, after getting the school money up and running. So Kevin and I are back. And many of you know I hired Kevin with just hands down. Everybody raised their hand ready to go.

» And Kevin's done a marvelous job at deploying the first round of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Funds. So I'm going to kind of tell you a little bit about the financial portion of it. And then he's going to tell you how the plane's being built and some of the things that have happened with it. And we're going to kind of keep it simple for you. But right now, Kershaw County has had three deposits from the Opioid Recovery Fund made into the account at the office of SCORF. And so I'm actively watching that because one of the things I do want y'all to remember is the opioid funds are not going to come in like this. They're going to come in like this. And then it may go down and it's, wow, for me to employ him, I keep telling him, watch that account.

» Because it is, we look at how we sustain the projects that we're deploying. And that's going to be a really, really big issue with us. So we're looking at that, watching that. And Kevin's doing a great job with the budget portion of it. And I would like to say that the Alpha Center is working to be a very good steward of the dollars because I scrutinize pretty much everything. And these are our community dollars at work. Kevin's going to tell you a number that is astounding, but it is one that is being recognized in the state. So my intent is for us to work toward building some type of sustainability of how to combat the opioid crisis in Kershaw County and taking it to the national level and for y'all to read about it in y'all's county national newspaper.

» The deployment techniques that we are using, these are some that people haven't thought of and we're constantly working. So you've got to remember, we're building the pyramid and the first thing we're doing is building a strong base. And then as it gets higher and higher, we're looking at adding on different innovations for it. So having said that, I do want to commend you that Chesterfield County called me in and asked me, what did Kershaw County do? And I told them exactly what we did and how we deployed it. And their county council, without asking, voted unanimously at that time to award the Alpha Center to start up their project just like Kershaw County. And because of the success we've had, we're going to have that same success in Chesterfield County.

» And so that also creates networks of closer communities, which is really positive for us. I'm going to let Kevin speak next. But also, please pay very careful attention to the next speaker. I had no idea who he was and I was at Fred Shaheen's leadership and he came and spoke and then I was like, I know this guy. As we build that hierarchy, there may be a slot for he and I to build capacity for us to work together and to address the biggest need is we don't have what's called recovery capital in Kershaw County. Recovery capital means doing everything that we can in order for people in recovery to stay in recovery. I deployed one program that had been near and dear to my heart, but we never had the funds and we did that. And I'll let Kevin talk to you about it.

» But we have no housing for people who are trying to get back on their feet from struggling with addiction. So I am excited to hear about this because I do think that it would be a great asset in our community. So I had to send that kudu out to him because I am highly in support of what he's been doing in Florence and bringing it into our community some form or fashion. So I will turn it over to Kevin and I'm going to sit down and let Jimmy grill you tonight. He'll be right there if I need you. Ms. Jones, welcome. Thank you and thank you to the council. Thank you to everyone on this council for your support of this initiative. Thank you especially to Madam Chairwoman. She's been a huge part of the success of this project from the very beginning and I want to thank her personally.

» I want to thank Mr. Templar as well. I have him on speed dial and he always responds and I really appreciate that. I couldn't do what we're doing without the help of this council and this entire community. And this really is an entire community thing. And you'll understand that a little bit better in just a moment. So you have a handout in front of you. I'm going to use that just as some talking points. But really what I want you to understand is that this is in fact a coalition effort. This is a community-wide effort. This is not an Alpha Center project. Of course, I'm employed there. Alpha Center is the lead agency for obvious reasons. But Kershaw County, the entire county, owns these resources and they own this problem. And it is a county-wide problem.

» This is not just a problem for quote-unquote those people, whoever those people are. This affects all of us. I don't use opioids, but I'm affected by it when 9-1-1 is responding in mass numbers to an outbreak. When EMS is responding or first responders are responding to these events. When the emergency room is overwhelmed with patients who are there because of an opioid outbreak event. It affects me whether I use these products or not. And it affects everybody in this room and everybody who's listening online. And it's because of that that the entire community has to respond the way it has. The core coalition partners in no particular order are listed on this handout.

» That would be the Alpha Center, Camden Police Department, the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office, the Kershaw County Coroner's Office, the Kershaw County Detention Center. All of Kershaw County government and all of its many forms, as I've already mentioned. The probate courts and the Sheriff's Office. And again, in no particular order, everybody owns a piece of this. And the faith-based community, by the way, I have to point that out, has been involved in a very large way. And that's just the core of the partnership. It really extends well beyond that. As this coalition grows and the partnership grows, we're identifying more and more key partners. We've added the United Way as a key partner in helping us extend our reach.

» We've partnered with the University of South Carolina, College of Social Work. We're working now to improve and increase our connection to the local MUSC and many others. Again, I don't want to leave anybody out of that effort. But as we move forward, we're moving into, we find a need to meet as a big coalition, which is hard to get everybody together. We're going to meet every other month. And then on those off months, we're going to have smaller sort of focused groups so that we can drill down a little bit deeper. And you can see that in your handout, what some of those are that are coming forward. Some of the core strategies that we are employing, obviously, we've already talked about adding staff. One of those was my position.

» There has to be a director, kind of somebody to herd everybody in the right direction. I'm responsible for the reporting, for delivering all of the deliverables that we said we were going to do, for kind of keeping everybody on task, for the communication pieces of this. I also represent the coalition out in the greater community on a variety of committees and other coalitions. We aren't just asking you to join our coalition. We're joining yours as well. So I'm being tasked to be in multiple places at one time to do that, and it's a pleasure to do that. But in addition to adding my position, we've added an additional clinical counselor, and that is to respond to the greater need, obviously, that there is.

» And not just the greater need, but to be able to respond in a timely manner when patients or clients come forward. We've also added two graduate interns to the team, and they have been a tremendous help in helping us extend ourselves out into the community, reach more community events, and engage more of our stakeholders and citizens where they are. We can't expect everybody to come here to us. We need to go where they are, and we're able to do that through adding those two positions. We've been through some extensive training. Fourteen of us went to an event in Atlanta just this past April, and this is a four-day national conference. It's the Prescription and Illicit Drug Summit.

» While we were there, we learned a tremendous amount about not just how to respond, but what other communities like us are doing, and that was extremely helpful. We were planning to send a smaller team, but another team nonetheless, next year to that. We also had a big gathering training event last June. It was hugely successful. Over 50 people from all across the community came to listen to a subject matter expert talk about opioid dependence and treatment options, kind of bring the latest and greatest to our community. Like I said, over 50 people attended across a huge diversity of agencies who were affected by this crisis. We definitely plan to repeat that again this coming summer.

» We've trained some counselors in a little more detailed way for what they do, so they're better prepared to deal with the clients who come through our doors. We've expanded the availability of naloxone or Narcan. You might hear the brand name of it, and that's why I brought one with me. Our goal is really to get Narcan in every corner of the community. We know this is going to save lives. When it is available, the fatality rate for opioid overdose drops dramatically, so we really need to get this out there, and we're working very hard to do that. We've placed a vending machine at the detention center. It will go active sometime in the next week or so. You'll be seeing a lot more about that. And then we're doing Narcan pop-ups throughout the community. We may pop up at the Elgin Library.

» We may pop up at one of the outreach events that the United Way is doing. I was at Mount Pisgah yesterday, and they had some Narcan at the community center out there. We may show up at the Fire Fest. We may show up at the Touch-A-Truck events. Any place where people are gathering, we want to be there as well, and you'll hear more about that in just a second. We're expanding drug take-back and disposal tools. In fact, the sheriff is hosting one of those events, I believe, this Saturday. And so we're expanding some of the resources that are available for that. It's really important that we get these drugs and medications out of your medicine cabinets. If they're not being used, they need to be disposed of properly, and flushing them is not the proper way to do it.

» And we can help you with that. We're expanding treatment and recovery. I think that's what Ms. Jones was mentioning just a little while ago. So we have been able to serve over 200 additional what we call medically-assisted treatment services in Kershaw County so far this year than we did last year. That's 200 more than we did all of last year, and that's only September numbers. We were way ahead of where we were this time last year, and this grant and this funding has helped us to extend that. That is huge. That's the gold standard in opioid mitigation and treatment. And then, of course, to wrap around all of that, we have some media tools and media campaigns. You'll see some of these in the coming weeks and months. In fact, we've already been on local television three different times.

» We've been on local radio, a lot of social media coverage. And all of that is not just to celebrate the good work that's being done, even much more importantly than that. It's to spread the word, to gather more people, to draw more people into our program, to educate the public on the importance of being careful and being vigilant and being aware of the problem of opioid use and misuse in our community. So as I wrap up, you may ask, what's next? Well, we're going to continue a lot of the things I've already told you about that we're doing. We're going to continue to expand and attract new members into our coalition. We're going to continue the outreach and education. That job will honestly never be done. You'll never reach everybody, and so we've got to keep trying with that.

» We will be attending, we plan to attend the Drug Summit, and it's in Atlanta again in 2024. As I mentioned, we plan to have another big training event, and we want to get far more than the wonderful results we had at the last one of 50 people. We want to get even more than that next year. We plan to expand naloxone availability across the community. I already told you about the vending machine that's going up at the detention center. We need to find ways to penetrate all of the little pockets and corners of our community, including some of the far-flung areas, Elgin, Bethune. Like I mentioned, I was out in Mount Pisgah yesterday. We need to expand the drug disposal events, expand treatment and recovery services. That will never end as well. And then continue with the media outreach.

» So I will close with a call to action for each of you. So what do we need from you? We need your continued support. We need you to continue to be behind, as you've always been. We don't expect anything different, but we're going to ask for it anyway and tell you thank you every single time. We need you to tell your constituents that help is available and where to find it. We need you to tell us about your community events. Nobody knows your corners of the community better than you do. And so please tell us, if you have a yard sale, if you have a touch of trucks, if you have an event, tell us about it. We can't be there if you don't let us know.

» And then the last thing is to continue to raise expectations that this community is expected to be a part of this project, be a part of this solution, and we know you'll do that. So thank you for your time and your patience with me, and I will respond to any questions as best I can. Thank you very much, both of you. Any questions? Mr. Jones, if I may. Mr. Rose, you guys had something down there, and I wanted to stop. I think it was Friday you had the big balloon TV up, and it was dealing with drugs. And I was reading as I was riding with my father, who was unfortunately sick, and I wanted to stop because we passed it twice, and I was like, no, he won't sit through this.

» But I almost walked back from the house because I don't live too far from that just to see, but I didn't have that opportunity. And can you elaborate on that? Because look, you had a yard full of people there attending. Children, that does it for us. And we had over the years that there were kids, and there were one people over their house. Not just the one non-human speaking, but they have asked for us to do it more frequently because it's really hard to try and find something in the evenings to do with your children that is children-friendly, it's free, and it creates positive activities within the community. So I credit that to Lee, and we've decided that we want to try and have one more, and we're going to put it on a regular schedule to be having recovery-free activities.

» It has been 22 years, and parents come to me crying and very upset about a loved one who may be addicted. And through these dollars, we have started on the back, and it's very challenging to find employees sometimes. So I have been doing this work, and it is for a friend. He doesn't know what to do because, you know, his third brother's wife would move when I got drugged, but he's the go-to. How do I live, and how do I find hope and healing now that my brother may die from this? If I help them, they may die if I don't help them. It is for the families, and that is so greatly needed in our community. And so you see the dating time. Please spread the word on that because the ones who have shown up said they finally feel some level of hope in there. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Jones, if I may.

» Hey, Mr. Rhodes. Thank you for that presentation. We really appreciate it. The only thing that I could have overlooked it and didn't hear it, are we in the schools talking about prevention as much as we are talking about recovery? Absolutely. Do you want to take that one? Yeah. Ms. Jones, come back to the mic, please. At the Alpha Center, you got four-legged stool. You got prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery. Prevention dollars go into the schools, and right now we have two grant programs that are in our schools, and this week is actually Red Ribbon Week to celebrate saying no to drugs and those who are in recovery.

» So prevention dollars are actually separate from this, but what's been neat is we've basically augmented what my prevention program does with what Kevin's doing, and it's expanded it outward. So each year we probably look at touching, oh, my gosh, I think last year it was almost 2,600 kids through the curriculums that we deliver, and our superintendents always are welcoming, and we do the same thing in Chesterfield. We don't have that same opportunity in my other county, but that's okay because we're going for educating these kids, and he's got something coming that's going to be great for the kids. We're working on it, but it's going to be an app for kids, not that need recovery, but who are struggling with this same thing.

» How do you talk to a friend who's using? How do you live with a parent? Because I will say Karen DeVores recognized that need and brought it to our attention, and we're going to be looking at that because there's so many kids who want to know but are too embarrassed to ask, and so it's going to be a really cool thing. The other thing, I'm not going to get up from my soapbox. My son's 24, but I'm not out of the woodwork yet because we don't know at what point in time someone may want to just get, you know, I just want to smoke with my friend, and, you know, no big deal. It's my first time. Fentanyl is laced with everything. Please start a conversation with your kids. My conversation goes like this. You have choices in life, and I hope you choose good ones.

» But, Taylor, if you choose to go out and smoke weed one night, know what you're doing, test it. Fentanyl is in there. He doesn't use drugs. He can die from one overdose of smoking weed that's laced with fentanyl. We've got to educate our kids on that fact, and so many parents still don't know how fentanyl is wreaking havoc. But the other thing, too, law enforcement will tell you in here, Xylazine, horse tranquilizer, is now being laced in the pills that are being pressed in Lancaster, in Oconee County. Those pills will make their way to our community. Xylazine is not revivable with Narcan. It doesn't work. So we are in great need for people to start a conversation. And Kevin didn't say this.

» The biggest thing that we can always do is have a conversation with someone, and because we all have been there, I never dreamed it would happen in my family. Because like you've heard me say, sitting in a kindergarten class, Brent, with that little sweet one of yours, they aren't sitting around saying, when I grow up, I hope to be addicted to drugs, possibly contract HIV, and be a huge disappointment. Not a single kid has ever said that in a kindergarten classroom, and they don't intend to grow up like that. So it is extremely important to start conversations and start them young, because every life matters. And kids, believe it or not, we have them overdosing on vape pens.

» Too much tobacco in your throat will cause you to not be able to breathe and go into respiratory distress and end up on a ventilator at the hospital. I know two people in Kershaw County, teens, who have had that happen to them. So we think, oh, it's a safer. No, vaping is not a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes at all. So, I get wound up, Sammy. It's okay. It's okay. Powerful message. Appreciate it. Thank you all so much. Any other questions we've done? Thank you all. Thank you. We're looking forward to the next speaker. Thank you all. And Mr. Jones, I would like to comment, I appreciate you behaving tonight toward me. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Jones. We have Brian Braddock with the House of Hope of the PD.

» How are you, sir? I appreciate the warm intro, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to council tonight. I come here at the request of the councilwoman, the chairwoman, and I just want to say one of the greatest qualities of a leader is when their impact and influence is felt, regardless of where they are physically. And so I thank the chairwoman for the opportunity to speak to you all tonight. I am the CEO of the House of Hope of the PD in Florence, South Carolina. I also sit on City Council of Florence, and I serve the service field representative for Congressman Russell Frye in the PD area as well. I've been at the House of Hope for about 10 years now. I am a recovered opioid addict.

» At my lowest point, I was on my hands and feet looking for crack cocaine, and I was addicted to 10 to 15 sets a day. And through programs such as the House of Hope, I have over 15 years' victory today. Amen. Grateful for this program. Grateful for what y'all do. At the House of Hope, we've been around for about 30 years, and we serve homeless men, women, and children. We also recently have opened up an addictions recovery center called the ARC, the ARC. We have several people in addiction who have come to our facility, but it's not just for that. We've had other situations as well. We look to create a comprehensive program from zero to two years where people can come off of the street and then go into our emergency shelter.

» There, we offer food, shelter, clothing, and we offer them also case management, and we do all these in a faith-based arena. We also have a men's life recovery program. It's up to 12 months there. They get the food, shelter, clothing, but we also offer Christian discipleship, job training, help with legal issues, medical issues, and look to transition them to independence after 12 months. And what I'm going to be sharing with you all tonight is one of our newest projects called Hope Village, and that's Housing, Opportunity, Progress, and Encouragement. This is a 24-home tiny house village for women and children. We have our own security detail. We're licensed through SLED, but this is an up-to-two-year program, so they can stay up to two years. They can get revocated.

» We're looking for them to get gainful employment, life-sustainable employment, transportation, for them to develop those life skills so that when they transition, that they can find their independence and sustain that. Lastly, with everyone that we serve, we hope to connect them to a local body of believers, i.e. the church. So I'm going to show a little presentation. Hopefully it will answer several of your questions, but if you do have additional questions, I'll be glad to answer those as well. Serving the needs of those experiencing homelessness for more than 30 years. Founded in 1989, the original Men's Life Recovery Program continues to offer men up to 12 months to get the education, time, and jobs they need to learn to live independently.

» In 2016, the House of Hope opened the Courtney McGinnis-Graham Community Shelter to meet the emergency needs of men, women, and children. This shelter sees more than 1,100 unique individuals every year, offering not only basic needs, but counseling and case management to determine next steps. In June of 2022, Hope Village opened, offering 24 tiny houses for dignified, long-term transitional housing for women and children. This program gives women up to two years to get the skills and education they need to find not just jobs, but careers that will offer financial stability for them and their children. This year, the House of Hope is expanding again to add addictions recovery at a 139-acre property. This facility will serve the long-term residential needs for addictions recovery for men.

» In the next years, we will begin construction on a day shelter for those transient members of our neighborhoods that aren't looking for permanent shelter, but are in need of day-to-day help, including food, showers, heat in the winter, A.C. in the summer, and fresh clothes. This 5,000-square-foot facility is the next step in comprehensive care for those in need. This is just to give you an idea of what can be done. Like I said, I've been with the House of Hope 10 years. We've been around for 30 years. In my addiction, I was a four-time felon, recently pardoned by the governor. I tell people that I got my felonies before politics, not after. Hopefully none of y'all do this. But we'll see what happens with our past president. But I am open to any questions.

» Like I said, I'm just here at the bequest of the chairwoman who came and visited, toured our facilities with a good friend of mine, Mrs. Lynn Bennett. So if y'all have any questions, basically we don't have an ask. We want to be a resource to y'all, to whatever you do in the community. Anything in terms of policies, program, architectural design, anything that we can make available to you, we want to do that. To whom much is given, much is required. And me and my staff have been given much. We want to make that available to you as well. Well, let me just say this. Thank you for being here. Madam Chair had wonderful things to say. Ms. Jones had wonderful things to say. And I was really excited about hearing your message tonight when you came here. Congratulations.

» Congratulations to all your success. I don't know that I'm congratulating you for being on city council. I'm congratulating you for all the rest. My wife isn't either, so. Go ahead. I just wanted to say I'm familiar with some of the work you do. My prior life was working. I ran the federal prosecutor's office in Florence. Was I before you? No, no, no. It should have been before. It should have been before. I don't remember you. No. But I did mostly white collar for the last several years. But I'm familiar with your group. And so thank you for all the work you do. And tell Russell I said hello. He's a friend as well. Yes, sir. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Braddock, first of all, tell your mayor, Ms. Teresa Myers-Urvin, thank you.

» She came out and spoke at an NAACP event last month. And I wasn't able to attend, but everyone I spoke to said she turned the house out. Very, very good and powerful speaker. So tell her that. Yes, sir. And thank you for your service, too, as a political official in your area. My question, one of them was answered about the men's shelters. I see where y'all are doing that because you talk about the women and the children. But one of my questions is, do you have to be some type of addiction to get this service, or can you just be homeless and need help? Yes, sir. So we are primarily a ministry for the homeless.

» We just expanded into addiction services because most of the folks that we dealt with, especially men, either addiction or drug use was prior to or after, you know, the situation of homelessness. But everyone that we serve is homeless in the camps of homelessness. So I don't have to be homeless and a drug addict. I can just be homeless. That's exactly right, yes, sir. And we are, we do not receive any state, federal, or government funding. We're all privately funded for all of our ministries. Well, that was the next thing I'm going to ask you. How do you sustain and continue to grow this ministry? Because I need to do an osmosis or cookie cutter and get that up here. So we, I would say faith and prayer would be one of the reasons. We are 68 employees. We help over 2,500 people per year.

» Our budget, our annual budget is $3 million a year. And like I said, we don't take any federal support. We do that in part by, we also have a thrift store where we sell donated items. That helps us with job training as well for the people that we serve, but it generates income. The new property that we've just purchased, we're looking to utilize part of that as an RV park for glamping, for different things to generate revenue as well. So it is, it's in part by asking. I have no problem asking for money. But we are also trying to look for ways to self-sustain with the resources that we have as well. It didn't happen overnight. It just, it takes time.

» But if, if you're doing things and you do them in a manner that's top quality, you know, in terms of our facilities, our staff, our services, we try to make sure that, that anything that someone would invest in, that they would be proud of. So I will say if you, if you get started, the people are there, the resources are there. It just takes that step of faith to step out and have the heart to help people. If, if I asked y'all to raise your hand, if you've been impacted by addiction, I'd venture to say that 100% of the people here in one way or the other have been personally affected by addiction. So that financial support is there. We also did get some support through the opioid recovery funds as well to help with this expansion. I will be in touch with you, you know, with Ms.

» Jones and through Madam Chair, because I'm definitely interested in seeing how we can do something similar to what you're doing on a smaller scale till we get where you are. Sir, we'll help you in any way we can. Thank you. Mr. Brousel. Thank you, sir. That's fantastic. Thank you for, for sharing your experience, strength, and hope. And through what you've gone through in your life, I know that's the most valuable asset that you have. But, and it's not, it's not easy to stand in front of a group of people and give testament, but that's all the glory to God, right? That's, that's wonderful. I'm kind of like Sammy. I'd like to know what we could do to, to help in our area and, and how your business model is set up. So thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing. Yes.

» You know, you don't know what you don't know. And, and seeing this is a very impressive facility and to know that you've done it by private fundraising is more than impressive. So we appreciate you being here tonight. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Yes. Go ahead. Welcome, Mr. Braddock. Good to see you again, sir. It is. I've had the opportunity to break bread with Mr. Braddock at the Rotary Club meeting in Florence, well, back in August. After that, we got a tour of the new facility, the tiny houses, and the new piece of property. And her, we got to meet two individuals with firsthand testimony. One was a lady and what, young son, I believe, six, seven months old, who was a resident of the property currently.

» And another was a staffer who had been in jail and addiction and has been free and looks up to Jesus going forward. So it's wonderful. Thank you for presenting today. I appreciate all you do. And this is something I challenge to each one of my council members. We need to go over there and visit. Yes. And tour the facility because it is something that we need. You know, Ms. Jones said in her presentation, we're lacking one thing in Cershaw County. Recovery, recovery capital. That could be a good start. So thank you again. And we're all disappointed you didn't take us when you went. I just got lucky. Mr. Kato. I just want to say thank you for coming out tonight. Very impressed. It takes a lot of courage to get up and openly speak about what you went through.

» But, man, what you, the difference you're making in people's lives. Thank you so much. Appreciate this. Amen. And again, I want to thank you so much. And you have lived up to what both ladies said. Actually, more. I'm appreciative of what you've done. And I, too, would look forward to going and visiting and seeing. And I hope that you'll stay in touch with Alpha Center. I hope that y'all can work together in some way, fashion, to make some things happen for the future. You know, you said it. There's not a single one of us up here that can think back in our history of our lives that we haven't been affected somewhere, whether it's grandparents, parents, brother, sister, child, whatever, with addiction. So, you're a brave man, and I thank you so much for all you've done, and God bless you.

» Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it. If y'all don't mind, I'm going to leave. I got five women at home, my wife and five daughters. So, I know how the rest of these things go. So, if you don't. Sir, you don't want to stay? You're welcome. Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Safe travels. All right. If I could, right quickly, I want to just make note of one thing. I had no problems with my wife sitting there because I knew Tim Taylor, and Chuck would make sure she behaves herself. So, thank you, Chuck. Thank you, Tim. All right. All right. Moving quite along. Listen, guys, that was a powerful message. Yes. That was very powerful. This life is short. Yes. All right. We're moving right down to approval of the minutes to have a motion. I'll make a motion.

» We'll approve the minutes. Mr. Cato, is there a second? Second. Mr. Tucker, is there any discussion? This is Tuesday, October 10th. We're talking about 2023 regular meeting. Okay. No discussion. All in favor? I'm going to abstain due to absence. Thank you. Mr. President, you were absent of meeting? Thank you. All right. What are you going to do with it? Let's go into number eight, discussions. We have on there dates for November and December county council meetings placed on the agenda by Councilman Sammy Tucker, Jr. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. We were looking at the dates for November and December. The November dates are going to stay as scheduled because Thanksgiving actually falls in between our meetings, if you check your calendar, if you pull your calendar up.

» And then we have the meeting in December that's going to fall the week of Christmas. And so I would recommend to this council that we go ahead and cancel that meeting so therefore staff and the public would know how to set their holiday schedule moving forward. Okay. You're making that in the form of a motion. No, we're under discussion. Yeah, we're under discussion. I want it on the agenda as an agenda item, but if I need to put it on the next agenda for some action, we can. But that's my recommendation. Okay, let's just get some dialogue with the folks up here. Go ahead. Councilman Tucker, we discussed in the meeting potentially moving the first date of November. Is that something that we potentially could put a motion on the floor and see? Talk with Madam Chair Friday.

» I think we met Thursday. And she wants to call a special meeting and not cancel the first meeting in November. Okay, so, and I'm sorry I didn't share that. I was actually going to share that in my report later on. But, yeah, so unless this buddy chooses to do something different, she wanted to call a special meeting for that one item. I mean, I'm just, my only concern, I'm fine with that. I just don't know that my schedule that first week in November, it's going to be tough to make a special meeting. But, I mean, we can just, I mean, so just so folks are aware, the Finance Committee met recently. Can I go ahead? When we do discussion and I'm here, I want y'all talking to each other. You don't have to go through me to speak.

» So, we had, we had, the Finance Committee met recently to discuss the different recreation options. We're putting together a formal recommendation from the Finance Committee. So, that will be in the next meeting, whether that's the first of November or the second week of November. But that's, those recommendations are going to be put forward. As part of that process, the Health Services District has the opportunity to weigh in and agree to their match. Obviously, if they vote in a different way, then it all goes back to the drawing board. So, because of when the Health Service District meets, if we moved the November meeting up a week, we'd be able to have that meeting in our vote in time for them to have their first meeting in November.

» Otherwise, we won't hear back from them until December. Not fatal because the project itself realistically can't start until 2024 based on our meeting with Shane Kirkley. So, that was sort of that discussion. I'm fine communicating with this because also, Vice Chair just invited me in front of the Elgin Town Council on the first Tuesday of the month anyway to present an award. So, that neither of us would be able to make a meeting if we moved it up a week anyway. Well, that wasn't going to be my recommendation that we had that, but we don't have it open. But, nothing says it has to be on a Tuesday. What about the Thursday, the first, which would be, let me look at my calendar here.

» What about if we did it either the 2nd of November or the 9th of November? Because it's just going to be one item. You are aware that we do have another item that we're probably going to need three votes on, correct? Yes, sir. An economic development? Yes, sir. Okay. I mean, you can put two things. You can put more than one thing on it, sir. I just want to make sure we're all. Yes, sir. So, I don't know if that will be ready by then, but. Yeah. Yeah, I'm out the 2nd and the 9th. Why don't we look at maybe Mr. Templer can get some dates and we can all get together and agree upon something going forward? Because, I mean, you never know us in calendars. Yeah. And I decide right now. I agree 100% with that because here's what I don't want to happen.

» I don't want nobody to not be able to make this meeting because it's a very important vote. And I also expressed to Madam Chair that I know I can't do an AM meeting, so it has to be an afternoon. Well, I mean, it has to stay as scheduled. I mean, that's not going to be detrimental to anything. It just means we'll have to wait 30 days to hear back from, and maybe the Health Services District can move their meeting up. Ms. Hannah, as our clerk to court, can we get with Madam Chair and see, can we kind of tentatively see if there's a time that works for a special call meeting? And if not, we'll just do it on the 14th. Okay. If it doesn't work for us, we'll just do it on the 14th.

» Now, for the December meeting, are we in a place procedurally where we can do a motion for that at this meeting, or do we have to wait? Mr. Bowes, we talked about this before the meeting. Would you give some clarification? Yeah. This is listed as a discussion item, not necessarily new business, old business. And I believe to Mr. Vice Chair's earlier point, there is a need for three regular meetings for an economic development matter, but it sounds like y'all are considering a call meeting solely for the recreation project as a potential. If not, it'll take place at that 1st November meeting. As far as canceling the, I believe, December 26th meeting, again, this is a discussion I think is probably better suited under new business, but again.

» I mean, we're not time sensitive, so if we can't, Ms. Hannah, put it on there as a new business for our next meeting on the 14th, then we'll address it and vote on it if that's okay, or for everyone. We typically have always done one meeting. Right, in December. In December, yeah. And we usually do one meeting in November, but the way Thanksgiving falls this year, it doesn't affect council meeting that week, so it's no need to cancel it. Yep. Mr. President? I think if we have another meeting in November, it should be earlier, not later. I do agree to that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Anybody else? Yeah. All right, very good discussion. Okay, also we've got B, deadlines for appointment in boards of commission.

» We've got that 90 to 120 days, placed on the agenda by Councilman Sammy Tucker for discussion. You don't lead it off? Yes, sir. Thank you again, Mr. Vice Chair. So, what we had discovered in some of our boards and commissions is that we've got outside councils or governments or bodies or entities that's got appointments onto our boards and commissions, and they're not being filled. So, what I would like to ask Ms. Hannah to do is to go through and figure out where that's at. Well, we do have those appointments like the town of Bethune, town of Elgin, and even if it's by another organization or whoever it may be, that we put into our language on those boards and commissions that they have either 90 or 120 days to fill that position.

» And if not, then it's going to be rolls back to council responsibility to pick someone so that position does not go unfilled. And so, I just wanted some feedback. I thought we do that already on a couple of boards and commissions, and it's in the writing of those boards and commissions, but we need to be consistent with the rest of them as well. Very good. Gentlemen, chime in. Nothing? All right. Very good. Moving along. And listen, guys, I just don't think it's necessary to do a vote and a second to put it on the table to discuss the discussion. Okay. All right. And C, we've deleted C from the agenda, so that's been taken care of. Thank you to all involved, Mr. Templer, to get that resolved. Ms. Jones. Yes. Can I just ask Ms.

» Hannah, and I'm happy to do whatever we can, that we can go through that. And if that's ready for the 14th, then we'll address it. If not, then we'll do it the 28th of November. But I would like to see, can we get that cleaned up and in place before the end of the year? Okay. Thank you. All right. Very good. Thank you. All right. Moving right along. Number nine, ordinances. We're now down to third reading of case 2317, an ordinance to amend the official zoning map of Kershaw County to rezone property zoned. By Kershaw County School District from R-15, low-density residential district to B-2 general business district. I would like to ask, is there a motion at this time? I have a motion. All right. We have a motion by Mr. Okay. We have a second by Ms. Tucker and a motion by Mr. Shoemake.

» Mr. Shoemake, would you lead us off on this? Yes, Mr. Vice Chair. So, I just wanted to say briefly, there's been some chatter about the cell tower. We heard some discussion. And I got an email from a constituent, Mr. Strickland, who I think was here, but I don't think he's here anymore. And I'm supporting this reading. And I just wanted to go over a couple of things for public consumption. So, one of the first things I think is important to understand is what's before us is not whether or not to build a cell tower. What's before us is a zoning question, which is, are we rezoning R-15 to B-2? It's a school district zoning question. The reason that's important is the law doesn't allow you to say, we're going to rezone something for this specific use.

» And just to point out, so that's the question before us, and whether or not a cell tower ultimately goes up is a decision the school district will make and with their own public input and their own research. So, today's vote is not build a cell tower at a school. Today's vote is, is B-2 a more appropriate zoning classification for B-2 in high school? I wanted to throw a couple things out there. If you look at our zoning tables, R-15, which is what it's currently zoned at, versus B-2, which is what they seek. There are a couple things that R-15 doesn't allow, that B-2 allows, beyond just cell towers. One of those is seasonal roadside vendors, so like food trucks, that sort of thing. Vending machines, support activities for agricultural and forestry, horses and other equine production.

» Now, these are not things the high school, except for vending machines, is currently engaged in, but again, they might want to have a festival. There are likely uses that the high school would need to do under B-2 that R-15 wouldn't allow. So, for those reasons, from sort of a larger legal perspective, a zoning from R-15 to B-2 makes sense. Again, ultimately, the school district and their elected body are going to have to decide about the cell tower. But that, again, is a decision I think we can leave in the hands of our fellow elected officials. One quick point, though, because I did want to do some homework because I got some questions. I will note that this whole thing about cell towers and kids, I think I'm the only one on this body that has kids at the high school.

» I have two children. I live in a high school. I have a sister-in-law that teaches there. I've got two nephews coming up there in two years. It doesn't give me any great pause. We're the school district to put a cell tower there. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm no expert, and none of us are on this issue. So all we can do as leaders is choose good sources and good, reliable information on which we base our opinions. I chose to use the American Cancer Society and the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. Both of those entities talk about 5G networks having no known risk. In fact, the American Cancer Society says that there is little research showing RF waves pose any more or less of a concern.

» And I would note that the RF waves that you get exposed to in a tower are far less than the cell phones that, bluntly, most of these teenagers have glued to their heads 24-7. So I personally don't have issues with a cell tower. But, again, back to my original point, that's not the question before us today. Do we rezone from R15 to B2? For those reasons, I'm in support of it, and I just wanted to sort of make that clarification since I had gotten some e-mails. To be fair, Councilman Shoemake, the kids don't have the phones to their ear. They text with them. They're close. Any other comments? Any other discussion? Ms. Shoemake, thank you for doing your research on that. I appreciate it. And you are correct. We are not the ones deciding the cell tower.

» We're deciding to change up the property. All right. Any further comments, questions? Ms. Tucker. I just want Mr. Brown to know, and they do have earbuds. Oh, that was a deep cut, Senator Tucker. Have you said that? I don't remember that. Have you said that? All in favor of the rezoning? Let the record show that it is unanimous with all those here. Thank you. Leave on. You stop smiling right now. Moving to number 10, resolutions. We have an inducement resolution identifying a project known to the county as Project White Oak to qualify as expenditures eligible for a fee in lieu of taxes arrangement with Kershaw County, South Carolina, providing for other related economic development incentives. Is there a motion to approve this resolution? I'll make a motion. Let the record show Mr.

» Tomlinson has made a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Kato, second. Discussion? That. Mr. Templer. Yeah. I was going to ask. No, that's what I was going to ask for. Mr. Jones, member of council, you have before you an inducement resolution that will allow Project White Oak and its affiliates to qualify as expenditures eligible for a fee in lieu of taxes as it relates to special source revenue credits. This is the initial step for this project. And if you have any other specific questions, I'll defer to council, legal council. Any further questions? There are none. All in favor? The record show that it's unanimous. All right. Going down to number 11, new business bid for renovating the courthouse vault into offices placed on the agenda by County Minister Danny Templer.

» Do I have a motion to place this on the table? Mr. Vice Chair, I make a motion that we approve the recommended vendor for this bid. All right. Motion made by Mr. Tucker. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Tomlinson. All right. Discussion? Anybody? Any questions? Can you give us some clarification, Mr. Templer? Yes, Mr. Jones, member of council. This is a project that we've been trying to get done for quite some time. This dates back to when we had set aside money in our capital budget probably three years ago where we made the ultimate purchase of our voter registration building. But that building took so much of the money we had set aside. We ran out of money for this particular project here in the courthouse.

» This project is important because we have family court on one level that is just cramped. It goes well beyond collaborative seating. They don't have any appropriate workspace in there, and that is an incredibly busy function in the courthouse. So this is going to allow us to take an old area, what they call the vault. It's not what you would traditionally think of as a vault, but it's just a fortified area that held a lot of important documents. And to take that area and turn it over into a larger office area setting for the family court staff. So this is going to allow to make the appropriate walls and collaborative seating and electrical connections. And so we ended up with this bid for the low bid recommended by staff is $93,974.40. And there's a large gap between $93,000 and $183,000.

» Yeah. Yes, sir. Like $90,000. I appreciate you all going out and doing your due diligence. Yes. Mr. Vice Chair, I was going to say, Councilman Cato, Tucker, and Tomlinson, I believe it was the four of us, right? Yes, sir. Went and toured that. It was a special called meeting, and we went and toured that before one of the meetings. So we did see those spaces. And I think from what we saw, that type of project is needed over there. Yes. Thank you guys for going and looking at that. I'm sorry y'all didn't tell me about it. I'm just kidding. I couldn't make it. I knew about it. We're all friends. I knew about it. All right. Okay. So motion on the floor. Second. Any further discussion, questions, comments, whatever? All in favor? Mr. Templer, the director of show, all are in favor.

» Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, Mr. Templer. Okay. We're moving to number 12A, appointments, Clean Community Commission appointments, one vacancy, Camden appointment, currently seeking an appointment. Is there any thoughts on that? I know we've got a board and zoning appeals, but any thoughts on that, Clean Community Commission, first? Keep thinking about it. Okay. And you're working on that, right, Mr. Templer? Yes, sir. Okay, good. All right. Let's go to B, where we're going to have a motion for a board and zoning appeals appointments, one vacancy. Is there a motion? Did anybody have an appointment? I didn't. I'm looking at these names. I've got it marked down on my, you know, Connect the Dots agenda over here. Let's see if anybody in the crowd is one of these applicants.

» Is there an applicant out here for the Clean Community Commission? Let me see if it was a board and zoning appeals appointment. There is one that I recognize, Timothy Thomas, who lives in Highway 34. He's a great guy who works in the area. But no one in the crowd is one of the applicants for Clean Communities or zoning appeals. I just want to make sure they would have a chance. Why don't we do this? Why don't we just move it to the next agenda and we'll get some clarification on it. I like that. Yeah. Okay. So we will do that. We'll just move over that one. Thank you, gentlemen. All right, Council briefing. I want to start with never late and always on time. Mr. Thomas. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. Yeah. I just missed your opening. As always, thank you again to staff for putting this on.

» Appreciate everybody's time for being here. The public presentations were incredible today. And I think as leaders of this county, we're all challenged to really see what we can do to help facilitate something in our community for addiction and recovery. I really enjoyed those briefings. Some upcoming events. There is, on October 28th, it's a Saturday at the Pisgah Baptist Church out on Black River Road. There's a fall festival, free fall festival last year. There's about 400 people there. There's food trucks, things for the kids to do, horse rides and everything else. It's going to be 11 to 1230. If you're able to make it out, that would be wonderful. A bunch of churches, nonprofit organizations come together to put this on for the community at no charge.

» Also, coming up on November 11th is a polo match hosted by the Watery Hounds. It'll be the second polo match in about three weeks. And, I mean, growing up here, I don't think I ever saw a polo match, and we've had two recently. So, my family and I went to the one this past Saturday, and it was wonderful. Great, great camaraderie, great fellowship out there. So, I'd love to have people out. If you need any details on it, feel free to contact me. That is all I have, Mr. Vice Chairman. Thank you so much, Councilman. Mr. Kato. Expecting that. Come backwards on me, Mr. Jones. Shocking on. Shocking on. I got just a couple of things tonight. First of all, I want to congratulate a couple of teams out at North Central High School.

» Next Wednesday night, the North Central Lady Knights volleyball team will be competing for the third round in the state championship next Wednesday at 6 o'clock at North Central High School. To keep moving on, they have an outstanding volleyball team there. I know Camden had a very successful year, too. I don't know exactly where they're at, but I do know that North Central is moving on for Wednesday, for next Wednesday night. Also, the North Central Band will be playing in the state championship this weekend. So, they will be, pardon me for not knowing where they're going, but I do know they're going to play and perform in the state championship. Lastly, this Sunday evening, there will be a fall festival, community fall festival, with a trunk of treat.

» This is sponsored and put on mainly by Westville, Bethany Westville Baptist Church. However, there is a lot of participation from different organizations, different churches, and from the community. This is a large, large event. There's probably, last year there was probably 1,500 people probably came through that place. It was crazy there at North Central High School. So, I encourage you to come out. But, it's interesting to see all these little kids, and they're having a good time. A lot of things for the adults, and a lot of different vendors. So, I invite you to come out to that, and that'll be from 5 to 7.30 this Sunday. Is that Reverend Craig in Blankenship? Reverend Craig in Blankenship. He got this started, and they do an outstanding job up there. Fine family. That ends my report.

» Thank you, Mr. Kato. Mr. Shoemake. Thank you, Mr. Fresh Chair. So, a couple of things. I want to start by reminding those folks who are listening or out in the crowd that the Concerned Citizens of Kershaw County is hosting a town hall meeting this Thursday. That's this Thursday, right? This Thursday, October 26th. It's going to be at the Revolutionary War Center. It's going to be at 6.30 p.m. Chairwoman Gwen is expected to attend. I believe, Sheriff, looks like you're on the agenda as well. Is that right? So, the sheriff, and it looks like we have our mayors of all our different municipalities, the police chief of Camden, the city manager of Camden. Danny, I don't see you on here. We'll have to make sure you get an invite next time.

» So, but Concerned Citizens of Kershaw County, it's a relatively new group that are addressing a lot of the needs in the community. So, they're having a town hall this Thursday, so it's 6.30 p.m. The other couple quick things, I wanted to thank all the boards and commissions, or those who serve on the boards and commissions. I see two of our airport folks here in the back. The service that they do and what I've seen over these last few months, I mean, they're very involved. WLTX did a little story today on the Clean Communities Commission. We're filling these boards and commissions with Chairwoman Gwen and Ms. Hannah's help in identifying what we need. So, I just wanted to thank all those boards and commissions that do a lot of important work in our community.

» I also wanted to give a shout-out to an organization that, I've got to be honest, I didn't fully understand what they did, and I've gotten some education on it. 4WW, it's 4Westwatery, and if you look them up on Facebook, it's 4WW. And you may want to mention this to Mara. This is a group of faith-based folks in the Westwatery area, and they meet every second Tuesday. We, unfortunately, I want to come to one of their meetings once we reschedule one of ours, but they meet every second Tuesday. They're kind of in flux now because their old meeting location is having to change. But this is the group to put on that big school event in Elgin that I sent you guys pictures of, the big family. So, what it is is it's all these nonprofits and churches. The pastor, Ms.

» Lorenzo, that came and prayed with us is one of the members. And so, Lugol First Baptist is part of it. Blaney Baptist. It's a lot of different groups, and, again, 4Westwatery, 4WW. And what they do is come together and figure out ways these organizations can work together instead of in different silos and actually do stuff for the community. So, it's a pretty impressive group. I wanted to thank Hague's Creek for having me to their annual or semi-annual barbecue. My law partner, Ben Connell, cooked for them, and I attended and ate. And then, for those of you who aren't aware, the Catfish Stomp and Lights of Lugol for soliciting folks that want to be in the parade.

» So, if any of you are interested in being a participant in the actual parade or festivities, they have all that stuff online now. I don't know when the deadline is, but Catfish Stomp and Lights of Lugol. So, the Derek Shumate Council Parade float is being worked on as we speak. So, that's all I have. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Mr. Shumate. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. One, a couple quick things. One is Mr. Harmon Mack. Just so the public can know, South Haven is in its city limits. And so, Mr. Templer, you probably need to get in touch with your cohort there, Mr. Rory, and pass that on. They've had a lot of issues and concerns, and some of that's due to the new homes they're building in the back with no access road to relieve that traffic that's coming off Black River Road.

» I have reached out to the mayor and a couple of the city council members in reference to that, because that's going to create a problem not only for South Haven, but also for Southern Oaks. And it's not going to be a good problem. So, with that being said, I want to remind everyone that we have a finance committee meeting on Friday at 1,500 hours here at 515 Walnut Street, room 207, 1,500 hours. If you're a civilian, that's 3 p.m. That concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brasel. Thank you, sir. I just wanted to, first of all, thank everyone for their sense of humor tonight. I think everybody brought their joke book with them tonight. But I'm going to tell you something as I kind of reflect on that. This council's changed.

» If you see a group of locally elected officials that can poke fun at one another and joke around and work together to solve problems for community, that beats the heck out of what we see in Washington, D.C. That beats the heck out of hate and violence and fighting with one another. We had some really good information given to us tonight that I take very seriously. I think the gentleman was right. Each and every one of us probably have been affected by some sort of addiction issue, whether it be a relative or a friend. The public should know that we take these things seriously. We care about everybody in Kershaw County and the state of South Carolina and beyond. But I do like the fact that I can sit here with my colleagues. We can enjoy a meeting and not leave angry and hot-tempered.

» And I want to say thank you to the public. And I want to say thank you to my colleagues for us being able to come together the way we have. You're welcome. That says a lot for each and every one of us as individuals. And, Mr. Jones, I appreciate your leadership in this temporary role that you've played. Thank you. And as well as Ms. Gwynne in her absence. And she will be back and she'll fill her role. And you'll be back in your seat across from me. Correct. I'm sitting over there. We know you're ready to move back. So, Mr. Robinson, always good to see you, sir. Knights Hill, doing good things, always. Mr. Templar, you know I'm going to ask you about the program. How are we coming? We're still working. We're going to meet with the DNR engineer.

» We've been trying to just get him scheduled to meet with us. But it's a large group, so we've got all the input and we're just ready to roll. We've got some paperwork we need to do for the state to unlock those funds. So, there's just a little bit of red tape there, but we're tracking. We're familiar with the red tape. Can we get a pair of scissors out and let's get this thing moving? I'm ready to get it done. I can cut my red tape, but not the state's red tape. Let's see if Mr. Connell can help us with the other. And he has been in contact with me as well to just offer his support. So, if we need anything there. And it's, I say red tape, but it's just more of the official filing of the project and the codification and letting them know exactly what we anticipate spending on.

» So, are we ready to move forward? Yes, absolutely. Amen, hallelujah. Let's get it done. Thank you, sir. That concludes my remarks. Thank you, Mr. Brazzo. All right. I don't have much. Mr. Templer, if you would, next meeting. I think we should have time for the FOIA request on the burials. We should know something about that, shouldn't we? Yes. There were some requests for extensions on those. Those are relatively small organizations that the FOIAs were sent to without any professional staff. But those responses are due at the end of the month. But there's a deadline. Correct. They are due at the end of the month. Would y'all be prepared at the end of the month to give us a full report on that? But we've gotten partial responses.

» Some of the entities, they're still working on full responses. But, yes, they've been responsive and, again, have a deadline of the end of this month. Sure. And we have a right to know because there was county money involved in it. If you don't want to be questioned, don't ask for money. You know, I want to just say something as to you in reflection on my colleagues, some of the comments. They're exactly right. We are a counselor that can work together. It's taken 17 years for me to get here. We disagree. And we're going to disagree next month, maybe the month after. But we do it in a way that we're not trying to intimidate or trying to disrespect one another. I can say that I have much respect for each one of these men up here. I don't agree with them all the time.

» But bottom line is I have respect for them. And I haven't had that for many of my council members over the years. And I will say that to them, to their faces, if they're standing here now or say it up here now. But bottom line is we do work together well. And we don't make it personal. But we go at each other on issues. And I can tell you right now, each one of these guys up here are a tough negotiator. So I have to really hang tight, you know, when I'm disagreeing with them because they're very smart. But I want to thank you all for your cooperation. And I truly mean that. And I would not say it if I didn't mean it. But y'all are a heck of a lot better than what I've had in the past. Watch it. So anyway, having said that, and I look forward to that full report.

» And, Martin, we've been back 25, 30 years. It's been a long time. But you've come around good. All right. Gentlemen, thank y'all so much. Now, is there any administrators briefing? Let's move along. Mr. Jones, if I may. Yes. Mr. Tucker would like to say something about someone that passed away. No, go right ahead. Mr. Doug Bostic, we got word that he passed away last night from Charleston. He led the way in the burial and the reinterment of the Revolutionary War soldiers. And if we could just remember him and his family. I know there was some stickiness about how it was done and that sort of thing. That doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with this. Absolutely. That's right. This gentleman served. He did.

» Well, and did a lot for Kershaw County in Kershaw County and honored those soldiers. And I'd just like to take a minute to honor him. Why don't we just take a moment in silence? Can we take a moment in silence, please? Thank you, Mr. Brousel. So much for making us aware of that. All right. Mr. Templer. Just a few things. An update on the jail study. We met back with Mosley Architects. They brought us back two proposals, one for an expansion and one for a complete rebuild. The only good news I got is we could do both of those on our current property. Pricing was a little disappointing. I asked them to go back and resharpen their pencil and make some adjustments. And so still working on that. But I expect to have whatever we ultimately come to, I'll have a full presentation for council.

» Quarterly budget meetings have continued. They'll culminate. And we will meet with the finance committee to let them know kind of where we stand so far, so good. I'm proud of everybody for managing their budget the way they have been. These budget meetings have been helpful. These are something new that we've started. We'll meet every quarter to understand the early challenges of these budgets, what surprises we've seen as it relates to inflation or just things going up. Pricing indexes don't typically wait on budget cycles, so things increase. So the main spirit of this is so I can understand most of what we're going to be anticipating needing to fill and fund for the 24-25 budget year.

» So instead of having a department head in front of me for 15 minutes to spill out what they need for the next four quarters, they're going to have four or five opportunities to do that, as well as our traditional budget process. So looking forward to giving that report to the finance committee. I just want to say how much I appreciate the new public works facility we cut a ribbon on last Friday. That was much needed if you've ever been out to the old public works facility. This facility was done right, and it's a proper workplace for our employees. So I would like to thank the council that was a part of that, the bond of easement, and allowing us to go forward with that project that is going to be a facility that will fulfill our needs for probably 20, 25 years.

» So that's awesome stuff there. And just to let you all know, I'll give you a specific date, but we still have one more ribbon to cut on the Cassett Fire Station. So trying to look at that maybe mid-November, but I'll put that information out as soon as we come up with something a little more solid. So, and that will be a big one. That's been a long time coming. Thank you, Mr. Templer. Make it quick, Mr. Attorney. No update. Because I know how the attorneys can get long-winded. Hey. Excuse me. Thank you very much. You know I'm just joking. You know I'm joking. All right. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Make a motion with adjourn. I already beat you to it, Sammy. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? I was distracted. All in favor, raise your hand. Let it show this unanimous. We're adjourned.